朊病毒“类PCR”高灵敏度检测方法的研究进展

Progress in research on highly sensitive PCR-like methods for prions

朊病毒是传染性海绵状脑病的感染因子,主要由错误折叠的朊蛋白(PrPS)c组成。朊病毒的复制就是在痕量PrPSc的催化下,正常朊蛋白(PrPC)向其错误折叠形式的转化。本文介绍的是朊病毒的新型检测方法,即蛋白质错误折叠循环扩增技术(类"PCR"高灵敏度检测方法),这种技术的概念是根据朊病毒的复制原理形成的,其方法类似于DNA通过PCR扩增的方法。本文针对朊病毒"类PCR"高灵敏度检测方法中几个具有代表性意义的技术作一综述。

Prions are the unconventional infectious agents responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies （TSE）, which appear to be composed mainly or exclusively of scrapie prion protein （PrPSC）, a misfolded prion protein. Prion rephcation involves the conversion of cellular prion protein （PrPC） into the misfolded isoform, catalyzed by tiny quantities of PrPSc present in the infectious material. We have recently described a novel technology to amplify cyclically misfolded proteins in vitro. This procedure, named as protein misfolding cyclic amplification （PMCA）, is a highly sensitive PCR-like method conceptually analogous to DNA am- plification by PCR and is of important significance in research and diagnosis prion infection. This paper reviews several representative techniques in highly sensitive PCR-like method for prion.